Dejounte Murray’s newest setback has complicated the Pelicans’ fall, but it hasn’t changed what New Orleans wants from him.
The veteran guard was brought in to be a stabilizer for a roster built around Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III and a still-developing supporting cast. Instead, injuries have kept getting in the way, and the Pelicans are still waiting for the kind of steady connection that was supposed to follow Murray into the lineup.
That search has been going on for two seasons now. Murray has played only 45 games across that span, and his most recent stretch of availability came after a ruptured Achilles tendon kept him out for more than a year before he returned late in the 2025-26 season. In those 14 games last year, the 30-year-old put up 16.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.
Now he’s dealing with a troublesome toe contusion, another interruption at exactly the wrong time. But the Pelicans can’t afford to force the issue just to chase continuity in October, especially with an injury history that has already dragged down his three-point shooting to 30.8%. What they need is someone who can matter on both ends when the games count.
Murray seems to understand that his job is bigger than a box score. The emphasis around the Pelicans has shifted toward execution, accountability and letting results do the talking, not empty preseason noise. There was also a social media flare-up from Derik Queen that has since been deleted, but the broader message around the team is the same: prove it on the floor.
“When I say not talk too much, I mean we're healthy, you know,” Murray said at Media Day. “And I think that’s a big plus for the New Orleans Pelicans.
That's been a knock. It’s been a lot of health problems, but we're healthy.
Pray to God we can stay healthy. When I say not to talk too much, actions speak louder than words.
At this point, it is just up to us to go out and prove ourselves right.”
That’s the mindset New Orleans is betting on as Murray works his way back. The latest injury may slow the timeline, but it hasn’t dulled the expectation: once he’s right, the Pelicans want him to be one of the voices - and engines - that pushes this group forward.
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No corresponding move came with the release, which keeps the last bit of roster math from being fully settled in public. New Orleans still has a little housekeeping left, and the deeper implication is that the team is trimming toward a group it clearly feels better about, even if one final spot appears to be spoken for behind the scenes. [Read more 🡒]
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Trey Murphy III stands to benefit as much as anyone, and the two have already been spending time together on perimeter shooting drills and two-man game work during practice. For a Pelicans team trying to unlock another layer of spacing and ball movement, the early camp work hints at a more versatile attack, even if the most important pieces are still being put in place. [Read more 🡒]
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Smiths appeal is obvious for a team that has spent plenty of time searching for two-way stability on the perimeter, and Holt offers a different kind of upside if his scoring continues to rise. A recent mock draft from Sam Vecenie put both players near the top of the board, which only adds to the sense that New Orleans may be watching a draft lane open up toward the kind of high-level fit it can actually use. [Read more 🡒]